Good Morning Lowcountry

November

Lowcountry Novembers offer food for the soul in the gold, green and russet colors of our marsh tapestry, the Prussian-blue sky and the relief in a breeze coming off the creek that is actually cool.

We're happy to be alive here in November, and we'll block out a period of time to be thankful for all these things later this month while we stuff our faces with turkey and oyster dressing.

A young GMLc friend and Charleston native, who will exit the Lowcountry for graduate school soon, has a list of 10 things she dislikes about our flat paradise.

They include too much sun, lack of widespread alternative energy and lack of mass transportation.

The first complaint could eventually solve the second one with affordable solar panels and sufficient tax incentives to install them.

We direct her to like-minded folks at the Charleston Green Map (www.charlestongreenmap.org) and to the following meetups:

--The Charleston Alternative Energy Meetup Group gathers Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at Earth Fare, 74 Folly Road Blvd. Sign up at http://alternativeenergy.meetup.com/147/calendar/6569412.

--Greendrinks Charleston, a group of environmentalists, recyclers, green builders and other eco-friendly business folks (their motto: Promoting democracy one pint at a time), gathers monthly at 7 p.m. at The Trusted Palate, 563 King St. They are at www.greendrinks.org. Join them and get some Lowcountry food for the brain as well.

--Preservationists are green, too. Tonight at 7 p.m., the Preservation Society of Charleston will hold its fall lecture and reception at The Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St. Professor and author W. Brown Morton III will talk about the relevance of preservation projects in historic districts, including additions to historic structures and new construction, adhering to the Secretary of Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. It's our favorite price.

Abolition

November also gives pluffmudders a chance to get out and learn about the Atlantic slave trade during this bicentenary year of its abolition.

--Today and Friday, Drayton Hall will celebrate the book launch of "Votaries of Apollo: The St. Cecilia Society and the Patronage of Concert Music in Charleston, South Carolina, 1766-1820" by musicologist and historian Nic Butler.

--Butler will lecture and present musical selections at 6 tonight at the Mills House Hotel, 115 Meeting St., at our favorite price.

--Friday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Drayton Hall will hold a ticketed luncheon with a concert in the Great Hall that will recreate a program last heard there more than 200 years ago. Tickets are $75; call 769-2612. See www.draytonhall.org.

--The annual Heritage Days Celebration at Penn Center on St. Helena Island (just down the road near Beaufort) is today through Sunday. See www.penncenter.com for the schedule of events.

--Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon, Drayton Hall will hold a program on the American Revolution with emphasis on the roles of blacks of the period. See www.draytonhall.org.

--Next Thursday (Nov. 15), Amy Thompson McCandless will lecture on "Poor Women, Poor Slaves: The Grimke Sisters of Charleston and the Feminist Opposition to Slavery." It's at 7 p.m. at Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun Street, and our favorite price. See www.ccpl.org.

--On Nov. 18-20, the Southeast Division of the Association of American Geographers will hold its annual conference at the Francis Marion Hotel. See http://www.geography.vt.edu/sedaag.

--On Nov. 25, Caw Caw Interpretive Center will teach the history of Indigo dye, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Take a T-shirt to dye. See www.cofc.edu/wgs or www.ccprc.com.

--On a modern note, Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal will speak next Thursday at 7 p.m. (7 p.m. seems to be a popular time in the Lowcountry) at Avery Research Center for African American Research and Culture, 125 Bull St. His topic: "What Is Black Male Feminism?"

Earlier that day, at noon, he'll hold an informal lunchtime talk titled "What's the Deal with Men?" (that could take all day ... just kidding) at the Alumni Center in College of Charleston's School of Education, Health and Human Performance, 86 Wentworth St. Take your lunch.

Both events are the price we like. Find Neal's blog at http://newblackman.blogspot.com.

GMLc

Call 937-5564. Write gmlc@postandcourier.com. We're also back in the saddle again at gmlc.typepad.com.